Grades

I just made up final grades for my class. This process should be very easy since I use excel. I enter grades as soon as I mark the exam and the computer figures out the average for me. So why do I stress so much? I want to be fair. I don't want to ruin a child's life by giving her a grade that is too low or too high. A grade too low can eventually keep her from getting into her dream college. A grade too high can give her a false sense of her knowledge or the amount of work she must do to earn the grade. I worry if my marks are really accurate enough to reflect a difference between a 94 and a 95 student. If a kid fails, I want to give that kid a 55, the highest failing grade possible. I don't want to give a grade that an average will be impossible to recover from. Principal Suit feels that a kid that gets a 55 will be able to pass the second term. He then wants to reverse the grade. I don't mind passing the kid that has made up the work, but Principal Suit seems to think every 55 can be made into a 65. I have some sweet kids in my classes. Sweet, but not too bright in math. I don't want to destroy transcripts so I give a 55. Then I look at the average and change the grade to 50. Then I change it back to 55. This will go on until I hand my grades in on Wednesday morning. I don't like having this power. I wish I could just teach and forget the grade part of the job.

Teaching Awards

I was reading UFT paper and noticed the following awards for teachers.

Christopher Columbus Award: Encourages teams of middle school students to use science to improve their communities www.christophercolumbusawards.com


James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation: awards fellowships for graduate study of the U.S. Constitution www.jamesmadison.com

Technology grants: HP is giving awards to teams of five teachers from k - 12. Emphasis is on using technology grants.hp.com/us/programs/tech_teaching
(This is the only link I can't get to work)

Teacher of the year: honors exemplary teachers www.teachers.com/toy/toy.asp

Presidential awards for math and science teachers: recognizes exceptional math and science teachers in high school and middle school www.paemst.org

I'm sure we all know overwork, overlooked teachers who should win some of these awards. Let's nominate our deserving colleagues.

Larry Studies Calculus

More Art from Baltimore

Math and Art? Go Figure!

Kodak Moment

I saw this in the Baltimore Museum of Art. It is what I tell my students all the time. I'm going to start printing it on all the papers I hand out in class.

Stupid Kid

I have a kid in my class that cheats like crazy. No matter how much I watch him, he manages to cheat. I finally realized that I have to give different versions of the same test. I told him that I was going to do this, but, of course, he did not believe me. The test day came. I made sure that none of the kids around him had the same version. Sure enough, in the middle of the test he yelled out "I can't believe you really gave me a different test!" The whole class started laughing. We all know he is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but we didn't think he was stupid enough to broadcast his cheating. Even after 30 years of teaching, I thought I had seen everything. I guess there is plenty left for me to see.

Make Someone's Day

One of the cleaners in my school is female. That might not seem like a big deal to some of you young people, but to me it is a great big deal. This woman is performing a job that I spent almost my whole life thinking was a male only job. Every time I pass her cleaning outside, I try to say a few words to her. To me, she is a great role model. She is a true 21st century woman. I became a teacher because it was a job that was open to women. She became a cleaner, a job traditionally done solely by men.

Today when I arrived at school this cleaner was sitting at a desk in the custodian's office. I stopped to say hello and said "I think, this is the first time I have ever seen you sitting." Her reaction stunned me. She had tears in her eyes, grabbed my hand and said "thank you for noticing." I couldn't believe an innocent, meaningless comment on my part could make anyone feel so good. We talked for a few more minutes and I even told her my opinions of her and her chosen profession. When I left her, she said I made her day.

We all need to stop, look around, and let the people around us know that they are valued and appreciated. It costs nothing and takes no time or effort.

Drawing circle

Final Exams

My AP insists that we give uniform finals in the math department. That is because he doesn't trust our judgement to give an exam that is fair, not too hard and not to easy. After years and years of doing this, he has finally come to see the same problems with this policy that teachers have seen for years.

1. Our school is on a 12 period day. Since teachers only work an 8 period day, we often never even speak to people teaching a different section of the same subject. I, for one, don't know what the other teachers have emphasized and can only hope that my kids are prepared for the exam.

2. Because I don't usually see the exam until right before it is given, I find that I sometimes give the same exact problems as practice problems during the week. Not a very sound testing policy.

3. My AP thinks he can stop cheating by giving two forms of the exam--one for periods 1 - 6 and other for periods 7 - 12. By the time the kids came into my 9th period class, they knew all the problems on the exam (of course too many still fail). One of my top students even asked me how to do one of the problems right before the exam.

My AP plans on asking Principal Suit for two days at the end of next semester to be devoted to final exams. Although this might prevent cheating, I'm not crazy about this idea either. How can we expect kids to do well when using this procedure they will be subjected to two to four exams a day?

Why Teacher Unions Are Good for Teachers and the Public

The following article was printed in the American Teacher Magazine that came out this week. This is what the UFT should be touting.

They Protect Teachers' Rights, Support Teacher Professionalism, and Check Administrative Power

By Diane Ravitch


We live in an era when leaders in business and the media demand that schools function like businesses in a free market economy, competing for students and staff. Many such voices say that such corporate-style school reform is stymied by the teacher unions, which stand in the way of leaders who want unchecked power to assign, reward, punish, or remove their employees. Some academics blame the unions when student achievement remains stagnant. If scores are low, the critics say it must be because of the teachers’ contract, not because the district has a weak curriculum or lacks resources or has mediocre leadership. If some teachers are incompetent, it must be because of the contract, not because the district has a flawed, bureaucratic hiring process or has failed to evaluate new teachers before awarding them tenure. These critics want to scrap the contract, throw away teachers’ legal protections, and bring teacher unions to their collective knees.

It is worth recalling why teachers joined unions and why unions remain important today. Take tenure, for example. The teacher unions didn’t invent tenure, despite widespread beliefs to the contrary. Tenure evolved in the 19th century as one of the few perks available to people who were paid low wages, had classes of 70 or 80 or more, and endured terrible working conditions. In late 19th century New York City, for example, there were no teacher unions, but there was already ironclad, de facto teacher tenure. Local school boards controlled the hiring of teachers, and the only way to get a job was to know someone on the local school board, preferably a relative. Once a teacher was hired, she had lifetime tenure in that school, but only in that school. In fact, she could teach in the same school until she retired—without a pension or health benefits—or died.

One problem with this kind of tenure was that it was not portable. If a teacher changed schools, even in the same district, she would lose her tenure in the school where she was first hired, and she would have to go to the end of the line at her new school.

Pay for teaching was meager, but it was one of the few professional jobs open to women, and most teachers were women. Pay scales were blatantly discriminatory. Teachers in the high schools were paid more than those in the elementary schools. Male teachers (regardless of where they taught, though almost all were in high schools) were paid more than female teachers, on the assumption that they had a family to support and women did not.

I would like to remember some of the forgotten heroes of the movement to establish fair and equitable treatment of teachers in New York City.

First, there was Mary Murphy. She started teaching in the Brooklyn schools in 1891. Ten years later, in 1901, she got married. That was a mistake. When she got married, the Board of Education charged her with gross misconduct and fired her. Teachers were not allowed to marry. She sued the Board. She lost in the lower court, but then won in the state court of appeals, which ruled that marriage “was not misconduct” and ordered the Board of Education to reinstate her.

Second, there was the Interborough Association of Women Teachers. They started a campaign in 1906 to wipe out the salary differentials between male and female teachers. Their slogan was “equal pay for equal work.” When the state legislature passed the Association’s bill for equal pay, it was vetoed by the governor. These stalwart female teachers finally won pay equity in 1912.

Then there was Bridget Pexitto, a veteran teacher of 18 years in the Bronx. She took advantage of the new right to get married without losing her job. But then she got pregnant. That was a mistake. The Board of Education fired her on charges of “gross negligence by being absent to have a baby.” Not only that, the Board ordered the superintendent of schools to discover whether there were any other pregnant teachers in the city’s schools. He somehow did a visual inspection of the city’s teachers and found 14 of them, and they were promptly suspended from teaching. Bridget Pexitto fought the decision in state court and was eventually reinstated with back pay by the state commissioner of education.

The forerunner to the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) was the New York City Teachers’ Union, which was founded in 1916. It was known as Local 2 of the American Federation of Teachers. Its purposes were to fight for improved salaries, to fight against “oppressive supervision,” and to defend the rights of teachers like Mary Murphy and Bridget Pexitto.

Today, the UFT and other teacher unions around the country continue to play important roles in protecting the rights of teachers, especially in the current climate of school reform. There’s a common view among corporate-style reformers today that the way to fix low-performing schools is to install an autocratic principal who rules with an iron fist. Many new principals have been trained in quickie programs of a year or less, which try to teach them to think like corporate leaders. Many of the graduates of these new principal programs have little classroom experience, and some have none at all. Many of them lack the judgment and knowledge to make wise decisions about curriculum and instruction or to evaluate seasoned teachers.
When experienced teachers must work under the control of an inexperienced principal, they need the protection of their union against arbitrary and unwise decisions.

Furthermore, to the extent that New York City, where I live, is the wave of the future, then teachers will need their unions more than ever. In New York City, under mayoral control, the mayor—a businessman—and his chancellor—a lawyer—selected a new curriculum in reading and math. They also insisted that all teachers across this system of
1.1 million children adopt exactly the same pedagogical style (the “workshop model”), and they micromanaged teachers’ compliance with tight, sometimes daily supervision.

Teachers found that they were in trouble if they did not teach exactly as the mayor and chancellor dictated, if they did not follow the scripted cookie-cutter format of mini-lessons, if their bulletin boards did not meet detailed specifications, or if their classroom furniture was not precisely as prescribed by regulation. In these past few years, I have often been confronted by teachers who asked what they could do when their supervisors and coaches insisted that they teach in ways they (the teachers) believed were wrong. I could only answer that they should be glad they belonged to a union with the power to protect them from “oppressive supervision,” to use the term that was familiar to the founders of Local 2 of the AFT.

As it happened, in the contract negotiations of 2005, the UFT successfully added language to the contract that specifically protected teachers from being punished because of: “a) the format of bulletin boards; b) the arrangement of classroom furniture; and c) the exact duration of lesson units.”

The union is thus necessary as a protection for teachers against the arbitrary exercise of power by heavy-handed administrators. In our school systems, as in our city, state, and federal governments, we need checks and balances. Just as the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government all act as checks on each other, we need checks and balances in our school systems. It is unwise to centralize all power in one person: the mayor. We need independent lay school boards to hire the superintendent and to hold open public discussions of administrative decisions, and we need independent teacher unions to assure that teachers’ rights are protected, to sound the alarm against unwise policies, and to advocate on behalf of sound education policies, especially when administrators are non-educators.

In the current climate, when it is in vogue to select non-educators to administer school systems, it is vital that teachers have a voice. School reform cannot possibly succeed when teachers—who are on the frontlines of implementation—are left out of the decision-making process. If there is no “buy-in,” if teachers do not willingly concur with the orders handed down from on high, then reform cannot succeed. If administrators operate by stealth and confrontation, then their plans for reform will founder. They cannot improve what happens in the classroom by humiliating and bossing around the teachers who are in daily contact with the children. Only in an atmosphere of mutual respect can administrators and teachers produce the kind of partnership that will benefit students. And administrators cannot achieve this collaborative atmosphere unless they are willing to talk with and listen to the leaders chosen by teachers to represent them.

The essentials of good education are the same everywhere: a rigorous curriculum, effective instruction, adequate resources, willing students, and a social and cultural climate in which education is encouraged and respected. Teacher unions today, as in the past, must work to make these essentials available in every district for every school and every student. They cannot do it alone. They must work with administrators and elected officials to advance these goals. The unions will continue to be important, vital, and needed so long as they speak on behalf of the rights and dignity of teachers and the essentials of good education.

Bloomberg and Tenure

Bloomberg again is talking about education reforms.

Bloomberg proposed additional changes to the educational system, such as giving principals more power, determining funding per student rather than per school and making it harder for teachers to get tenure.

The mayor said the city was "building a more rigorous review process" to ensure "ineffective teachers are not awarded the privilege of tenure and the near-lifetime job security that comes with it.

Once again teachers are being blamed for the shape of education today. Giving principal's more power just means they will be whipping us teachers harder and more often. Bloomberg mentions performance bonuses for schools that do well. Once again, the Plantation Owners are getting richer and the slaves are working harder. Does it matter to the owners if we quit? Not by any means. They will just find a new body to take our place.

My Country

People come to this country in search of a better life for themselves and their children. They give up a lot, but I guess they figure it is worth the sacrifice. Yet, term after term I have students who disappear for weeks or even months at a time to go back to their "countries" for things like weddings and engagement parties. Family is important. I really believe in family, but when you make the decision to start a new life in a new country you have to be willing to make changes. What kind of message are these people sending to their children when they tell them it is all right to miss that much school? One of my students returned today from Columbia. She has been missing since a week before Winter break. No note from her parents, nothing. She walked into the final. A girl who was running a solid 85 in the class got a 24 on the exam. Can I pass her? Do I even want to pass her? I don't think so. Another kid is on a religious retreat in India with his grandmother. He is gone six weeks. At least he got permission from the school before he left. He is an AP calculus kid who works very hard and has been keeping up with the work on his own. I got a new student last week. He was going to the school, and then left in October to go to a wedding in Pakistan. He returned in the middle of January. What kind of wedding celebration lasts over three months?

How can we teach these kids when they are not here?

Tenure

Bloomberg is once again touting his wonderful education reforms and his plans to reform education even further. One of his big issues is teacher tenure, which he wants to change. He claims that all a teacher has to do is teach for three years and the tenure is automatic. As far as I know, this is not true. New teachers are observed quite often and a good administrator keeps track of what that teacher is doing. If there are problems, there is a system in place to address those problems and if the teacher is not satisfactory, terminate employment. The big question the mayor should be asking is why principals are not doing their jobs? Could it be that actually trying to deny tenure means extra work for the principal? I don't know how many times I've seen teachers transfer from school to school, due to a principal's suggestion to avoid the U rating and thus keep the job until tenure is earned. Years ago we had a principal who was known for being tough on unsatisfactory teachers. More than a few teachers would dropped under his tutelage. Did innocent teachers bite the bullet? I'm sure they did. But, lots of kids were saved from terrible teachers too because of this guy. Let me add, that I was not a fan of this guy, but I respect the way he did his job. We have a guidance counselor in our school who is awful. He has been awful from day one. Everyone knows this. Did this guy get tenure? You bet he did! I've heard that his mom is a friend of Principal Suit. This guy is usually found surfing the internet in his office. Now he is one of those teachers giving tenure a bad name. Why? Because of an administrator who did nothing.

The majority of teachers with tenure have earned it. We work at jobs where we are underappreciated and definitely underpaid. Our education is the equivalent of a lawyer's education but our paychecks are not. We can't go to the bathroom until a bell rings. We carry everything we own from room to room. We are abused by principals who don't like us expressing opinions different than their own. But, we have one major thing that lots of other occupations do not have--TENURE. We cannot let the UFT allow the mayor to take this away from us

Colbert Report

I love the Colbert Report. I know that fake news reports are not the only way to get the news, and I certainly don't rely on them to tell me what is going on in the world, but they do make me laugh and I do agree with the point that Colbert is usually trying to make.

On the January 15th he pointed out a use of statistics that the Bush administration is using. He stated that the armed forced exceeded their recruitment quotas this month by reducing the quota to 700 from 7000. Changing the quota meant that instead of falling 87%below the quota, the quota was exceeded by 23%. All you need to do to meet expectations is to change your expectations.

Colbert also mentioned a dog he used to have that peed all over the living room rug. Instead of trying to stop the dogs peeing, he told the dog to do whatever he wished. His expectations were now met and he had a good dog.

What Colbert says in jest is sadly the truth. We increase the graduation rates by making the passing grade so low that a good 5th or 6th grader could pass. We let kids who do no work make up courses in afternoon and summer school classes, where breathing is the only requirement to pass.

NCLB

I had dinner tonight with a friend whose former school has been divided into "learning communities." The student body is just as big as it ever was, but on paper the school is smaller because each learning community is counted as a different school. Now there are classes with 38 and 39 students in them, because they are singletons in that community. Our wonderful union seems to have no problem with this.

One of the things she told me that distresses me the most is the treatment of special education students. In one of these communities, all the special education students are mainstreamed into math A, good old GW and his goal of NO STUDENT LEFT BEHIND. There are 38 students in the class. There is one teacher and no paras or aids. There is a girl in the class whose IEP says that her goal for the semester is to obtain 80% proficiency in understanding bar graphs. This poor kid is doomed to failure.

Instead of creating programs that look good on paper, the schools need to create programs that work and can help the kids.

This friend of mine retired in June. She wasn't really ready to retire, but she couldn't deal with the nonsense in her school anymore. All her classes weren't easy to teach. All her students were not good. These were not the things that drove her out. More and more experienced teachers are leaving because of all this bull sh** we are dealing with every day. Not only does no one in power care, but they are glad about it. One less experienced teacher means a lower payroll--two new bodies for the price of one. One less experienced teacher means one less teacher to question the actions of the administration. Besides, who really cares if the teacher is any good? A kid who can't read a bar graph or can't make change will never be able to succeed in math anyway. So what if the teacher is no good.

Stereo Types

Ma and Pa Kettle Math

Math Fun

I really like doing math problems, but I realize that most kids, even the ones in my advanced placement class do not share my excitement so I try to come up with ways to interject fun into the lessons. I try to do this by taking everyday stuff, music, television, commercials or movies and try to convince my class that the foundations for these things began with math. Here are a few examples:

Draw a picture--Where do you think Kodak came up with the expression "A picture is worth a thousand words"?

Glade--Plug it in, plug it in, when it is necessary to replace a variable with a different variable or a number.

Jeopardy--When we are curve sketching and we start with the clues from the derivatives and second derivatives and end up with the function.

Related Rates--The Song "One Moment in Time"

Reimann Sums--Beyonce's new hit "To The Left, to the Left"

Removable Discontinuities--Jerry McGuire's "You Complete Me"

The creators of CSI thought of the show by looking for clues in math problems.

I tell my students to save money on movies, go to McDonald's with their friends on a Saturday night. Order from the $1 menu. Take extra place mats and bring plenty of writing utensils. Entertain can be had by figuring out "exciting" problems on the back of the place mat.

I also try to interject real math topics. For example, I tell them how L'Hopital actually stole his rule from the Bournoulli brothers. Of course I embellish it a little, but the idea is still there.

I know this stuff is corny, but it seems to keep the kids entertained and working at the same time.

The Book Thing

My daughter just introduced me to THE BOOK THING, a book "store" in Baltimore. I put book in quotes because everything in the store is free. The Book Thing was started by a guy named Russell Wattenberg. While managing a bar in the Baltimore area, a group of teachers came in for happy hours (not that teachers need to drink). He had just picked up a load of books and offered the teachers the keys to his van and told them to take what they wanted. He then realized that lots of people have attics and basements full of books they no longer want or read and he saw a lot of people with no money to purchase these books. The Book Thing was set up to give everyone free and easy access to books. There is no charge for the books. Donations are accepted, but they are not asked for or solicited. The only charge is a smile.

For more information see:

www.bookthing.org

Administrators

The Assistant Principal in charge of security eats lunch the same period I do. He is very adamant about having a duty free lunch. No one is allowed to talk to him about any school business and he gets upset if he overhears anyone talking about school. The reason I bring this up is that as he was enjoying his lunch on Friday, the cafeteria phone rang. Of course, it was his lunch period so he shouldn't be compelled to go answer it. He had no problem yelling across the room to the school aid (a woman who gets less than 30 minutes free a day when you count her clocking in time) to answer the phone. It might have been an important call for him. I guess in his opinion only school administrators are entitled to duty free lunches.

Surprise, Surprise

Heard on Z100 radio, Friday morning, January 12 "Teaching has a higher burn out rate than any other." What a surprise!!!!!!!

DSL Teacher

I found a cocker spaniel that I really like in the library period 6 today. He tried to tell me that this was his lunch period, but I knew better. I've been trying to get an Arista Cat to buddy up with him, and try to help him pass some of his subjects, so I know his program and know he should be in a class period 6. When pushed, he admitted that he had DSL (Dog as a Second Language) that period. He told me, his teacher, Mrs. Bow Wow didn't speak Dog, and he couldn't understand her. Not being a big believer of a dog that cuts, I went to the DSL department and asked one of the teachers I knew if there actually was a Mrs. Bow Wow in the department. I was told "yes." I was then told that Mrs. Bow Wow speaks Dog with a very thick German Shepherd accent and her grammar is not very good, as she learned it from a French Poodle.

I think this dog might have better luck learning Moo from Mrs. Cow or Quack from Mr. Duck. Maybe I am old fashioned, but I think a person that teaches Dog should be able to speak Dog well.

Visits from Returning Students

It's winter break in most of the colleges and my former students have been coming back in droves to visit. That feels great. My kids have never gone back to visit their old high schools and teachers. They were glad to be free of them. With all my bitching and moaning, I must be doing something right if they keep coming back.

Two of my former students from last year have decided to become math teachers. I hope I was part of the force to influence them in that direction. In spite of everything I write, I do think teaching is a great job. The money, while never making me rich, does provide me with a comfortable life style (I have simple tastes). The rewards are endless. Two kids that came to see me graduated three years ago. I was glad to see them with name tags (one of Principal Suit's good policies) so I didn't have to fake remembering them. Both are doing great. One is a bio-chem major at CUNY honor and plans to be a doctor. The other is a finance major at Johns Hopkins. Both have great memories of the AP class they were in and enjoyed the daily abuses I laid on them.

Over the years, I have had students returning from many professions. I am happy to hear that they have made it as doctors and lawyers, but the special education students who are now holding jobs as truck drivers and McDonald's workers make me equally proud. I am not naive enough to think that the math I taught them had that much influence on their lives, but I hope that by believing in them, by treating them with respect and by helping them get diplomas, I helped them become better human beings, human beings able to take care of themselves and their families and perform valuable services to their communities.

I read an e-mail someone wrote to NYC educator on interviewing for a Teaching Fellows position. The writer desperately wanted to become a teacher. I hope she did get her Fellow's position, but if not, pursues the career anyways. Teaching is not easy. There is lots of crap we put up with from administrators and from students, but it is worth it. Sure, I need a drink sometimes when I get home. But, lots of people need the same when they get home from work. The visits from my former students remind me why it is all worthwhile. For years, I talked about retirement, looked forward to the day I would no longer have to put up with the abuses of everyday work. Now that I have reached the age I know I am not ready for it. Teaching keeps me young. It is a big part of who I am. I thank these kids for reminding me of why I became a teacher in the first place.

Another Memo

If you had very high failure rate during the second marking period, you should make an effort to briefly visit your colleagues who are teaching the same course and see what they are doing.....In almost all cases it is the level of expectations.

I am one of those teachers that had a high failure rate in one of my M&C classes. The other class had a very low failure rate. Maybe I should go visit myself to see how my expectations vary from period 8 to period 9.

Many of us are aware of the fact that seniors in most required courses do not do as well as sophomores or juniors. What are YOU doing about it since you already know it?! Have you spoken to their parents? Have you made sure they attend tutoring? Or have you done nothing besides conplain?

I don't think my AP wants to address the fact that there are serious reasons why seniors are still taking required classes. I, for one think, complaining is the best way to handle the problem. I can't force them to go to tutoring,and unfortunately most of their parents can't force them either.

I know most of these memos are not directed at me, but I find them insulting anyways. Why is everything the teacher's fault???

MY Big Day is Here

Well today is officially my "Teflon" day. I've hit the magic 55 and being Tier I with over 30 years in the system I know I can walk out the door whenever I want. I am invincible!!!! Principal Suit is lucky that I do love teaching and will not stop doing my job to the best of my ability but, he better BEWARE!!!! I am now a rain slicker on a stormy day. Everything he says can roll right off me. I am a silverstone frying pan, nothing sticks!

And My School Doesn't Even Have a Teacher's Lounge

Bangkok Office Introduces Daily Nap Time


BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - A Bangkok municipal office has launched a new program to increase productivity: Lights go out just past noon and civil servants are invited to take an afternoon nap.

Seeking to infuse city workers with a bit more pep, the Pathumwan district office in central Bangkok has set up a lunchtime "nap room" with soft music, sweet-smelling flowers and strict rules barring mobile phones and talking, said Surakiet Limcharoen, the district's top official who started the program.

"I've been taking naps at lunchtime for a long time, and decided to introduce the project to my staff in November," he said, noting many use the naps to recharge their batteries ahead of evening shifts.

The Bangkok Post showed a photograph in its Monday edition of the nap room - a wood-paneled room with civil servants seated around a conference table, their heads down on desks with the blinds drawn.

Of 200 employees at the municipal office, there are about 20 regular nappers who have reported feeling "fresher and brighter" after a midday snooze, Surakiet said.

When they aren't sleeping, the civil servants handle all municipal matters for the district, including taxes and identification card registration.

Bull SH**

I just heard a story on the news about kids who were in the country less than three years being required to take the same reading tests as students who were born in this country. The rationale behind this decision is that testing tells the policy makers what is needed to help these kids. I say BULL SH**!!!!!!!. The only thing these tests do is provide extra income for the test makers. If the powers that be really care about helping these kids succeed they will provide more money for smaller classes and provide more supportive services. The one thing the kids and the schools do not need is more testing.

I Don't Like Everything

I walked into an English class the other day. They were reading "The Grapes of Wrath". I read that book last year, because one of my AP calculus students recommended it and I like to show the kids I can do more than just teach math. It turns out that I didn't like the book. It was too flowery and descriptive for my taste, but the boy who recommended it and I still had an interesting discussion about parts of the book. I commented to the English class, that this book was not a book I was very fond of. My friend, the teacher, was not happy that I told the class this, but I really don't understand why. People tell kids they don't like math or science all the time. That is fine with me. Different strokes for different folks. We teach kids daily things that they do not like, but they have to learn them anyways. I like math, but I don't like every topic I teach, and I tell the kids when I am teaching a topic I don't care for. I love to read but don't like every book I have ever read. I don't think we can force kids to like the things we teach them. I tell my students that they learn for learning sake. They are young and need to be exposed to everything so that they can better choose what they want to study in college and what careers they want to pursue. Just because they don't like something, doesn't mean they don't have to do it. I think it is more important to let the kids know that teachers are people first, with likes and dislikes, just like they have. We all do things we don't like.

McMansion

The house next door to mine was torn down and is being replaced by a huge "McMansion", the biggest in the neighborhood. I live in NYC, where the plots of land in my neighborhood are only 60 ft by 100 ft, so the houses are small. This house has an extra 20 ft of land and the new owners have used every inch that the law allows. Although I don't like the house, I respect their right to do with their property as they wish. They seem to think, that because they have all this money to build, they have the right to do anything else they want, no matter whose rights it impinges on.

We tried to be good, welcoming neighbors. Weeks went by and the lawn was unmowed. When the grass was almost up to my waist, and we were still getting promises that it will be mowed soon, we were forced to call the city and complain. They must have received a notice of this because very soon afterwards they were out mowing in the pouring rain. A few hours after they left, a huge old tree in their back yard fell onto my property, barely missing my car and screen room and knocked some of the siding off my garage. We notified them immediately, thinking it was an accident. Although I couldn't use the garage for a few days, we waited until the tree surgeon they hired could come clear the mess. We didn't even bother them about the garage. My husband and I thought this was just an act of nature. My other neighbor swears the new owner probably tried to cut the tree down on his own and caused the damage.

Construction continued. Although it was noisy and dirty, we kept to ourselves. After all, these people were going to be our neighbors and we wanted to get along. While they were doing demolition, they asked us to move our car out of our driveway every day, just in case some debris fell. We obliged, even though it meant getting up early every day. While putting the roof on the house, the roofer dropped a 2 by 4 from the roof on the hood of my new car. The car was in the driveway--it was a Sunday morning. No work is allowed to be done then. The neighbor said he didn't want any trouble and didn't even want to go through insurance (he is probably using unlicensed contractors). He volunteered to pay for the repair and a car rental while the work was being done. Of course when he found out how much the work would actually cost, he was quite upset, but paid anyway. He offered us a little extra money to make sure the car was not in the driveway while they were working and promised to use licensed contractors from now on. Of course this did not happen.

Every time my husband speaks to him about the dirt on my property, he gets abusive. The other day, someone was throwing debris over the fence, into my yard. It only stopped when we threatened and did call the police. It turns out that the child of a worker was doing this. All he had to do was own up to the truth and stop, but he wouldn't do that.

About 2 months ago, we had some very heavy rainstorms. When I got home from work, my husband told me that water was pouring into the basement through the electrical box. A big part of my basement was ruined. It took Con Ed days to show up but when they finally did, we were told it was my neighbor's doing. He illegally cut the electrical line from his house to mine and left an open pipe in the ground. The pipe was working as a conduit for the water. We now must take him to court and once again, he is threatening us.

Today, Sunday, he is building the roof to his garage. It is illegal to work on Sunday. We called the city and made him stop. I listen to his banging six days a week, I will take my peace and quiet on Sunday, as the law allows. His workers also saw fit to use my garage roof to lean on while building his. We also stopped that.

I cried when the house next door to mine was ripped down. It was a great old house (same as mine), built in 1927 with stained glass windows and cathedral ceilings in the living room. Great mahogony beams crossed this ceiling. The people that sold it (were forced to move to Florida because of a job) loved the house. They spent tons modernizing and adding charm before they left. I cried, but I understood. Now I cry because of the people I will now have to call neighbor. My neighborhood consisted of teachers, nurses, police, fireman, etc, hard working people who got along and respected each other. Although we aren't all friends, we are all civil, have long conversations when we pass each other in the street and would generally do anything to help one another. If I could have one wish now, it would be for the family building this house to sell it to someone else. No one on my block has been royalty before. No one thinks they are royalty. There is no reason for this family to think they are any better than anyone else.

Material Kids

Maybe kids have trouble learning math lately but they have no trouble recognizing designer apparel. I was wearing an old pair of shoes yesterday, a pair that I picked up for about $20 in an outlet mall. I bought them because they were comfortable and I liked them. I could not believe how many kids thought I was wearing Prada shoes. My main experience with Prada is the Canal Street knockoffs I used to buy. One pair of Prada's would probably cost more than 10 pairs of shoes in my closet, definitely something I would not buy on a teacher's salary, even with the upcoming $750 bonus. How do kids know these things? And more importantly, why are they so impressed by them? Boy, has our society turned materialistic.

Warning Label

A good reason to learn to read!

The Purpose of a PhD

Tutoring Program?????

Back to tutoring in the library. Today was ridiculous. There was an English class in there so the library was closed to most students. After all, why should the librarians be forced to actually do some work? They might have to get up and walk around if there are a few more kids in the library. At least five kids told me they tried to get in for tutoring and were turned away. We have a tutoring program in name only. If anyone asks, it looks good on paper. Too bad very few kids are getting serviced. Principal Suit looks good. He'll get his bonuses. He might even be able to get a job as a hot shot, $1000 a day consultant when he decides to retire. That is all that matters.

Raising Expectations????

I heard that a student did something really gross today. He ejaculated in the math office after his teacher sent him out of the room. My chairman would tell the teacher it was her fault, she should raise her expectations and the kids will respond. Unfortunately, this kid was raising something else. I wonder if he thinks this is the teacher's fault too?

A Decent Suit

The only thing I really don't like about being an adjunct at the Community College is that I don't get to know my students. I am only there two nights a week, for an hour and half. While the people in the class are nice, and for the most part motivated, I just can't seem to get a handle on who they are and I don't like that. The students in my classroom are people and I always believed that the best way to reach people, especially people that don't like the subject you are teaching is to make a connection.

This brings me to my real issue. C is a young woman who was in my class last semester. She really struggled with the class, but never said more than two words to me until the end of the semester. She waited until everyone left and then came to me with tears in her eyes. She explained her math phobia problems and the fact that she had been working one-to-one with the math chairman for years. I felt bad for her. I gave her an extra week to hand in a take-home assignment and tried to give her encouragement for the final. Unfortunately, she didn't pass the exam, but did do better on it than she had on previous exams. I felt I had no choice but to fail her, making it impossible for her to graduate and go on to the four year college that had already accepted her (not one of the better schools, but a school that could give her a chance for success.) I got a very sad e-mail from her, again explaining her phobias with math and her efforts. Not really knowing her, I called the Chairman. I now know I Suit that I like and respect. This man, spent quite a bit of time on the phone with me. He said, "You are the teacher. I will not tell you how to grade. I respect what you do for the students you teach." After some prodding, I got the feeling that if it was up to him, he would have given her the D- she needed to graduate. I felt relieved because in my heart that is what I wanted to do all along. I not only changed her grade, but changed two other grades as well. I like to be fair and if she passed, I wanted to pass the two other people with the same sort of grades. This girl and the two others in the class are not going on to be mathematicians. They were just fulfilling a graduation requirement. I wish them all the best of luck in their chosen fields of study and am glad to not be the one to hold them back. I thank the Suit in charge of the department for getting to know this girl. He helped her pass the remedial math courses she needed and gave me the encouragement to pass her. Too bad there are not more administrators like him. The high schools could really use a person of his caliber.

Why I Still Keep Teaching

I got home from vacation and found a Christmas cards from former students. One who graduated in 1985 and one who graduated in 1978. These cards and these former students are the reasons I keep teaching. I just called my 1978 student. She is now 46 years old and lives in North Carolina with her army retired, now mail carrier husband and her two children, ages 16 and 10. She was just 15 when we met. M was a favorite student. Everyone loved her, mostly because she loved school and loved learning. I got to know her really well and never realized that she was just a few years younger than I was. She had a terrible home life. Her dad tried to rape her and she watched her mom try to commit suicide by jumping out of a window. She had to barricade her room at night to keep the rats out. Her brothers ended up in jail and her sisters all were pregnant. But, there was something about M that kept her going. She cried whenever there was a school vacation. She was always clean and bright, although her apartment was often without hot water. She ended up getting a part time job working for Jim Henson while she was in school. She flourished there. I remember her walking me around the town house he used as an office and picking up some of the Emmies the Muppets had one. She was a poor girl who was making it. Someone in the office befriended her and helped her get into a good college. Unfortunately, she only completed three years there, but that is okay. She ended up joining a church group and being who she was, she immediately became a congregation favorite. She met her husband through the group, and followed him on two tours of army service in Germany. She succeeded where others in similar predicaments failed. I remember going to guidance and trying to get her help. Thirty years ago help was not available to abused children. I remember the guidance counselor telling me "Don't say anything to anybody. You will make her life worse." As a 23 year old inexperienced teacher, I took this counselor's advise and did nothing but stay friends with M and help her as much as possible. Thank goodness things are different today.

I will be old enough to retire next week. I have enough years in to collect a nice pension, but I am not ready to go. I will not let the Principal Suits push me out. I know I can still make a difference in a child's life and I won't stop doing it until I feel ready to go.

Don't Think, Just Do

Stolen from SHUT UP AND TEACH

I can't find a more appropriate description of Principal Suit's treatment of the teachers in my school.

Big Businesses Stink

I was on the phone before with a friend who is head of the obstetrics department of a major hospital in Houston. She told me her hospital is being taken over by a bigger one and she thinks that is a good thing. She won't lose her job and neither will any of the nurses that work for her, but some of the top administrators are getting walking papers. I guess these people mean nothing to her. She is happby because the hospital will have goals to meet and more ways to deal with people that don't meet them. For example, she is now able to write up anyone who is sick on or around a holiday. She says she knows who really needs the time off and who doesn't, but does she really know what is going on in any body's private life? The nurses in her unit are required to do more and more every day to meet these goals. There are no excuses for not meeting them. I tried to explain to her that the school system is doing the same thing to us and most of us have just about had it. Most of us work to the best of our abilities, but there is a limit. There is no incentive to work outside of our paid work hours (although every teacher I know does this). Her employees are entitled to a floating "spiritual day." Her opinion is that only the religious should take it. Often she is forced to give up time off and others in the same situation should do the same thing. I'm sure many of us will be called down if we take Jan 2 off, even though we are entitled to 10 sick days a year (with no doctor's note required).

Something must be done to stop these big corporations from taking over everything. They are whipping us so hard that there is no flesh left on our backs.

Principal Suit's Worthless Solution

In September Principal Suit decided that Math A should no longer be given in four terms. Everyone could pass it in three terms. I think this is because one of the things the school was sited for was not having enough kids in Math B. My AP told him this was not a good idea, but did he listen? NO! Now that he has had a chance to review second marking period grades and has seen that most of the math classes with these kids have less than 35% passing (some barely have 20% passing) he wants us to go back to four terms. The new directive to Math $1 teachers is to stop teaching the new stuff and go back and teach over all the stuff that the kids didn't get the first time around. What Principal Suit fails to realize that most of these kids still won't get it. The ones that are too stupid to learn it will never get it. Kind of like, if you spoke to me in Chinese, only spoke the words really, really slow, I still wouldn't know what you were talking about. The other ones are just too unmotivated. Since they didn't do the work the first time around, what makes anyone think they will do it now? And if they do get it, are they going to be passed based on three weeks worth of work. Are we then sending the message that it is okay to do nothing for four months because in the fifth month you will learn all you need to pass the course? And how about the poor kids who actually did the right thing? That twenty percent that should now be able to finish Math A in three terms and go on to take Math B? They are now being penalized and made to repeat work that they mastered. Even the kids that will pass will pay a price in the end. They might be able to learn the stuff that comes in the beginning of the term. After all, most of that stuff is stuff they have been doing since middle school. But, when they get to the hard topics, at the end of the semester, they end up failing again. Since Principal Suit insists that all classes be annualized, these poor kids are going to be in Math&A once again in Septemberor they will go to summer school, where breathing is the only requirement for passing and be passed through with no background or preparation to pass math&C This is a no win situation for everyone.

DisRespect

Yesterday Principal Suit made a big deal about a holiday collation he was holding in his office from 12:00 until 3:00. He really wanted people to come. He said, "don't worry about lunch, there will be food." I usually avoid him and those things at all costs, but a good friend who I haven't seen for a while wanted me to go with her, so I agreed. Upon entering the office we saw his conference table covered with paper plates and one little slice of crumb cake. There was coffee on the side. My friend was pissed off. She didn't bring lunch because she thought she was getting fed. He had said earlier in the term that he was going to share his bonus with us, we all assumed he would be at least feeding us. My friend did hear him whisper to his assistant principal buddy "come back later, I have cold cuts for the people I like."

And he wonders why I don't like him?

Good Thing Not Too Many People Can Get Away with This

Blind Date - Olde English Sketch Comedy

It takes a math teacher to find and appreciate this one!

Super Clubs

We are all set to go on our annual winter vacation. We are going to Jamaica. We like Jamaica so much that we booked this trip almost a year ago, just when we got back from last year's vacation. In fact, we liked the trip so much that we booked the same hotel. Imagine our surprise when, looking at the website last night we found out that the hotel was undergoing major renovations that would not be finished until the middle of January. When spending big $$$$$ for a vacation, no one wants to be around construction. Calling the hotel got us no where so we called our wonderful travel agent. Carl quickly assured us that it was probably almost done, and we shouldn't worry. After all, he hadn't been told there was a problem, so there couldn't possibly be one. Well, today we found out that the resort is closed, has been closed for three months and will not open again until the middle of January. When were we going to be told this? WHEN WE ARRIVED IN MONTEGO BAY? Super Clubs said they would try to get us into another one of their resorts. This was not acceptable. Runaway Bay, where we stay is nice. Some of their other clubs are not! Good old Carl came through for us. He got his agency to pick up the difference in cost and we are now going to Sandals in Ocho Rios. A happy ending, we hope for us, but how about all those other vacationers? And if I wasn't an Internet junkie we might not have known and been in the same position as everyone else.

Super Clubs--I know you probably will never read this but I want everyone to know how you treat your customers. I will not vacation at one of your hotels ever again and I will tell as many people as possible to find somewhere else to play.

A Memo From My Supervisor

My AP is the king of memo writers. Putting teachers down seems to be his new motto.

Here is an excerpt from his last note to us:

Some classes have less than 35% of the students passing. We are here to help students learn. We must try different ways to get our points across. It is not right that we depend on a few of us to teach the "bottom students" because others are ineffective. It is unacceptable that some classes have less than 20% of the students passing. I would agree that those students do not know how to learn. They might have attendance issues. Knowing all that, what are you going to do to help them learn?

Although I am not currently teaching any of the classes he is talking about I take offense at his tone. Once again, it is the teacher's fault if the kids are not passing. It is the teacher's fault if they are not coming to school. It is the teacher's fault that these kids don't do homework, don't stop talking in class and don't do any work at all. I've been teaching for a long time and haven't figured out yet what to do with some of these kids. It's time to face the fact that there are kids out there that cannot learn, no matter what we do. And if the administrators really think that something can be done to help them, maybe they should come up with solutions.

Kid Smarts

The holiday show was today. A bunch of my calculus kids missed class to be in the show. They came running in afterwards, all upset, asking if they could come to the period 4 class to make up the work they missed. I was proud of them. It's good to know that some of the kids in the school are smarter than the administration.

No Wonder They Fail

I took Thursday off. I was sick. I never take a sick day but this time I knew I had to see a doctor. I felt bad about taking the day off because my M&C's were going to take a test on Friday. I had given them a practice sheet on Wednesday but Thursday was the day we were going to go over it. Well, I got two frantic e-mails from kids in the class, worried because they needed some help with some of the problems. Friday I got greeted by kids begging me to postpone the test until Monday. I figured, what the heck. What difference does one more day make? Maybe they will actually listen and do better this time. Boy, was I wrong. More than half of them had no clue where the sheet was and only a handful of the ones that had the sheet had actually looked at any of the problems. When I went over it, a few still talked non-stop and did not pay any attention. I don't get it. I always liked math in school, but it didn't come easy to me. I think that is why I majored in math. It was a subject that I respected because of how difficult it was. I wish I had had teachers that took the time to make up practice sheets and really explain what was going on. Some of these kids are just too dumb to understand, no matter how slow I go, but that is not the case for most of them. If they would put the effort of working and paying attention into the effort they take to goof off, they would be a lot more successful.

This Might Help End Discipline Problems

Nev. Politician: Let Teachers Carry Guns


Dec 14, 10:12 PM (ET)


LAS VEGAS (AP) - A Nevada state senator and also-ran in this year's Republican primary for governor says the Legislature should consider letting teachers carry guns in classrooms to stem a rise in school violence.

"I would expect enough teachers would be interested so it would serve as a deterrent," said Sen. Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas. He said he's preparing a bill to introduce when state lawmakers convene in February.

While Beers said teachers would have to undergo firearm safety training, Las Vegas-area school officials said that allowing more weapons on campus would make schools less safe.

"The more people who have guns, the more likely it is that there will be a shootout," said Clark County school Superintendent Walt Rulffes. He told the Las Vegas Review-Journal he was aware of no studies supporting Beers' argument that schools would be safer if teachers carried guns.

School trustee Sheila Moulton said teachers might need more training to identify and deal with potentially violent students. But she rejected the idea of arming teachers.

"That is not the solution," Moulton said. "I'm not for putting guns in the classroom even when teachers are trained on how to use them."

Clark County school police carry weapons, and district high schools typically have two officers on campus during school hours. Some large middle schools also have armed police officers. The district is the fifth-largest in the nation, with more than 300,000 students at 325 campuses.

Beers cited reports of more than a dozen guns confiscated at Clark County school students so far this year, and several recent instances of gun violence on and off Las Vegas-area campuses.

"We have banned guns in schools in Nevada and most of the rest of the nation for the last 20 years," Beers said. "Part of the problem is a small percentage of the population is brought up without a knowledge of and respect for guns."

The Show Must Go On and On and On and.........

Principal Suit thinks that some things are much more important than education. For instance, the holiday show. In our 250% capacity school, it takes six times for all the kids to see it. And of course, the show runs over an hour so two classes are cut short three times this week. If a class is being taught during the show period, and it is not that classes day to see it, that class is extended to over an hour. Teacher must plan for it and prepare extra work. Teaching bell to bell is important, but only if it does not interfere with the show. Of course kids in the performance are going to miss three class' each this week, but what does it matter? There are some things just more important than education!

On another note, Principal Suit has violated our contract by extending the period 10 class 10 minutes beyond normal ending time, causing teachers on a 3 - 10 period to work a longer day. I know our exec board met with him today. I hope they had some luck in getting him to change this time schedule.

Expectations

My AP told a teacher today to "Raise her expectations" when he happened to walk by her classroom and saw a boy with a hat on. The class was full of kids taking the class for the umpteenth time. They were quietly working on an exam and doing quite well. The exam was not easy, her expectations were high and the kids were meeting them. This comment, from the guy who last year complained that when we used words like reciprocal and inverse in the class we were expecting too much out of our students.

These AP's ought to get their priorities straightened out. Not noticing a kid in a hat has nothing to do with expectations.

Because Teachers Don't Get Paid Enough

Teacher in Crack Over Butt Art


Dec 12, 10:58 PM (ET)

By KRISTEN GELINEAU

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - To hear the students tell it, Stephen Murmer is a fun, popular art teacher who is always quick to crack a joke. But there is another side to Murmer. A side that has agitated school officials and resulted in his suspension. A side that focuses, almost entirely, on the crack in his backside.

Outside of class and under an alter ego, the self-proclaimed "butt-printing artist" creates floral and abstract art by plastering his posterior and genitals with paint and pressing them against canvas. His cheeky creations sell for hundreds of dollars.

This has not gone over well with Chesterfield County school officials, who placed Murmer on administrative leave from his job at Monacan High School.

Murmer contacted the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia after he was suspended on Friday, ACLU legal director Rebecca Glenberg said. He told Glenberg that administrators had suspended him with pay for five days because of his work as a butt-print painter and that he also could face unpaid suspension pending an investigation.


Murmer has been instructed by the school administration not to speak with the media, Glenberg said. He did not return messages seeking comment Tuesday.

Chesterfield County schools spokeswoman Debra Marlow confirmed that a Monacan art teacher had been placed on administrative leave but declined to provide additional details because it is a personnel issue.

"In the school system, personnel regulations state that teachers are expected to set an example for students through their personal conduct," Marlow said. "Additionally, the Supreme Court has stated that schools must teach by example and that teachers, like parents, are role models."

Murmer went to great lengths to keep his work life separate from his activities as an artist, said ACLU executive director Kent Willis. As a butt-printing artist, he goes by the name "Stan Murmur," and appears in disguise in photographs and videos promoting his art.

"As a public employee, he has constitutional rights, and he certainly has the right to engage in private legal activities protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution," Willis said.

A nearly naked Murmer expressed concern about remaining incognito during a 2003 appearance on the now-canceled cable television talk show, "Unscrewed With Martin Sargent." In a clip from the show, available on YouTube.com, Murmer dons a fake nose and glasses, a towel on his head, a black thong - and nothing else.

"I'm certainly proud of the ass painting," Murmer said in response to questions about his disguise. "I do have a real job where I do have real clients and I don't think they'd be too understanding if I was also the guy who painted with my ass."

That video has made the rounds at Monacan High, where the mere mention of Murmer's name was enough to elicit grins from students Tuesday. Most appeared to be firmly behind their teacher, describing his suspension as "stupid,""ignorant" and "kinda retarded."

"Everyone has been talking about it," senior Heather Thompson said with a laugh as she and other students streamed out of school.

Thompson, who worked with Murmer in the school's art club, said many students have known about his paintings for a few years, but the YouTube clip recently got everyone buzzing. She and other students described Murmer as a funny, likable and popular teacher. There is little support among the student body for his suspension, she said.

"It was simply him expressing himself and his art, and it had nothing to do with school - he wasn't advertising," she said.

This is not the first time Murmer has faced potential problems because of his extracurricular activities. Three years ago, he contacted the ACLU after he was told school administrators were unhappy about his paintings, Willis said. The issue eventually blew over with no suspension issued, Willis said. It was unclear why administrators decided to take action now.

Owning a piece of Murmer's art doesn't come cheap. On his Web site, his creations run upward of $900. His most popular piece, "Tulip Butts," goes for $600.

So how does one become a butt-printing artist? On his Web site, Murmur said his journey began a few years ago when he was told to find an organic item to use as a stamp for a class painting assignment. He decided to use his posterior. His final product was a hit with the class and a butt painter was born.

He was, however, the only student not asked to hold up his organic stamp.

---

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Its that time of the year again. Party time! It's a shame that school spirit is so low almost no one wants to attend. Principal Suit was in the teacher's cafeteria today pushing the party. It's sad that the only people that attend are the people that want to suck up to him. One teacher, with a really cushy job had said five minutes before he made his entrance "I don't think I am going to go to the party this year." When he asked her point blank if he would see her there, she answered "Of course you will." So she will be there along with a few others that she can convince to come and lots of young teachers that are afraid to say no. As for me, I am going out with friends, to nearby bar that has at least 60 beers on tap and am going to have my own celebration.

Pound of Flesh

Now if a kid is late to class three times, they want us to contact the parent and send the kid to the dean's office with an official letter stating the date we contacted the parent. Before we send the kid, they want us to call the office.

We have to go in the hall between classes, have a do now on the board when the kids walk in, collect and return homeworks and teach bell to bell. I wish they would just take the pound of flesh and leave us alone.

Dr. Suit has a Hissy Fit

Dr. Suit has his panties in a knot again. It's 10:06:03 and Dr. Suit is holding an IEP conference and all the participants are there except for Mr. T, the math teacher. Dr. Suit is furious. He goes to Mr. T's supervisor and says "Mr. T is not here. He is 3 seconds late. I saw him outside smoking a cigarette again. I am Dr. Suit. I must get this meeting over with on time. How else will I be able to take care of my private practice on school time and show up on time for my golf game? Supervisor, you must discipline him severely." Now Supervisor knows Mr. T well. Supervisor knows that Mr. T is very conscientious and responsible and would never go outside and smoke when he is needed inside. Supervisor asks Mr. T why he is late and tells him what Dr. Suit said he was doing. Mr. T explains that he was coming from a classroom on the other side of the building. He forgot to put on his running shoes that morning so he had to walk instead of run to the meeting. Supervisor says "I will take care of Dr. Suit. I do not want him harrassing the best teacher in my department."

Somewhat of a Handle

I had a conversation today with an AP (she caught me by surprise in the hallway). She is actually one of the better ones, has somewhat of a handle on reality. Notice, I use the word somewhat. I once again started telling her that the C-6 assignments left no time during the day for calling homes or writing letters and then reminded her that the C-6 assignment comes from within the school and the schools could change the assignments to give us some flexibility. She promptly told me that when that system was tried last year, some teachers took advantage and did nothing. I promptly told her that the same teachers were still doing nothing. She answered "We know that." When I asked her then why we couldn't go back to the flexibility and let the teachers work in a professional manner, she couldn't answer.

Somewhat of a handle I guess is a start. You've first got to see the problem before you can fix it. Now we've got to push for a real handle on reality.

Grade Correlations

I checked my grades for marking period II today, made sure they were all correct. I wasn't too busy so I checked my percentage pass. My 8th period M&C class had a passing rate of only 33% while my 9th period had a passing rate of 75%. I do the same things in both classes. My 8th period has lots of truants. My 9th period has almost perfect attendance every day. I know this is a big part of it. There is no way for kids in period 9 to get the exams and answers from the earlier class. I'm sure Principal Suit will find some fault with these grades. I don't care. I just wish he could come up with a way to help the failing kids.

A Fairy Tale

"Too many kids are failing your tests. They are too hard."
"Too many kids are passing your tests. They are too easy."

The poor teacher is so confused, too easy, too hard. She feels like Goldilocks looking for the porridge that will be just right. The only problem is that this is not a fairy tale and there is no happy ending. No matter what the poor teacher does, it is never just right. Instead of finding the comfortable bed, she is once again threatened with a U rating.

Comments from an Administrator

"Every teacher should be in the halls between classes".

"If a student is late once, call the parent."

"If a student is absent twice, call the parent."

"If a student is not doing homework, call the parent."

"If a student fails, you are a failure.

"I want another performance bonus. YOU MEASLY TEACHERS BETTER DO MORE SO I CAN GET ANOTHER ONE THIS YEAR. Stop taking lunch breaks. Stop going home until 7:00 PM. Start coming in at 6:00 AM. You may no longer use the bathroom on school time. If I don't get another bonus, you will get a U rating and be on the unemployment line."

Extra Credit

Why do kids ask for extra credit when they haven't even done the bare minimum of work that has been given to them? It never fails. The marking period ends and they all of a sudden wake up and want to do extra work to pass. I'll never convince them that extra credit for them means more work for me and I'm not willing to do it.

Principal Suit's Bonus

Our chapter chairman mentioned the principal's performance bonus in his last newsletter. Needless to say, our Principal Suit did not like this. He quickly defended the bonus in his weekly announcement papers claiming the bonus is something that was negotiated into his last contract and the UFT is against performance bonuses. What he doesn't mention is that he would not have gotten this without the hard work of the faculty. What he doesn't seem to realize is that his constant harrassment of us to do more than we are already doing is not going to work. Slavery is outlawed in this country and I refuse to do any extra work that will bring him another bonus.

I am against performance bonuses for teachers. One of the reasons is that I don't think teacher's performance can accurately be measured. There are too many outside factors involved. Another reason is the prejudicial factor. Principal Suit does not like me. He's already suggested that I transfer (which, I told him, is not going to happen). A parent nominated me for a Heart Award, no money, just an honor. He told her I was not the kind of teacher he was looking for--they should think about giving it to someone else. If I can't even get an honorary award, what chance would I ever have for getting a bonus?

Thursday's Exam

I gave my M&C class a test on Thursday. I really tried to make it easy, so more of them could pass. And I did the unthinkable--I gave them a review sheet a few days before with almost identical questions on it. If my AP knew, he would not be happy. I'm smarter than he is, though. I call the sheet practice, not review and I hide the real questions in with lots of other ones.

Some of the kids are good. They see through my tricks and manage to do quite well. Other kids have been beamed up to space somewhere and have been sent back to earth without some of their gray matter. For example, I gave them a question on combinations. I gave this one on the practice sheet nC2 = nC4 and the same problem with the 2 and 4 changed on the real test and at least 25% of the class got it wrong. I probably went over it 10 times before the exam and told them to beware. The also could not put these into their calculator and get the correct answer, even though I made sure to tell them they would have to do this on the exam. I did 1000!/999! on the board and on the test asked them 2000!/1999! and they couldn't do it. I know some of the stuff is hard, I try to teach the hard stuff, but put enough easy stuff on my exams so that everyone can pass. If only they would put the effort into studying that they put into goofing off, miracles could occur.

A Note from My AP

On 11/29/06, Pissedoffteacher wrote the following to her AP:
CAN WE USE C-6 PERIODS TO CONTACT PARENTS? I AM NOT GOING TO WORK DURING LUNCH AND PREP PERIOD IS PREPARATION FOR MY CLASSES.

SORRY TO BE DIFFICULT. JUST REMINDING YOU OF A PROBLEM.

And his response was the following:

You might wish to contact RG for an answer.

I would like to share with you that some of us call from home because some parents are not available during the day while others call during their prof. lunch, before or after school. No one should call during their C-6 assignment. Furthermore, teachers who teach the double period classes will not be asked to write recommendations while teachers of upper level or honor classes will. Should teachers of lower level class be asked to do more because they don't have to write recommendations? Absolutely not. One can always ask for double period classes so that she does not have to write recommendations. You can do it as well.

You don't even have to contact parents if all your students are doing what they are supposed to do. But if they don't, what choices do we have? Sometimes, calling parents don't even help. But we all have to try.

Have a good evening.

My response to him will be something like the following:

1. Contractually I am entitled to a preparation period and a duty free lunch.
2. My work day is already extended to 6 hours and 40 minutes. You have no right to ask me to extend it any longer or to work from home.
3. I happen to have taught double period classes as well as honor and AP classes. No matter what I teach, I write the recommendations.
4. You are in effect asking teachers who have honor and AP classes to do more than teachers who just teach double period classes. We all have the same c-6 assignments. We are the ones being asked to do more.
5. Most of the teachers teaching the double period class are not capable of teaching the advanced classes, They are teaching them because that is best for them, not best for the school.


Enjoy your day too.

The Power of Good Cooking

I asked a student today what made the big difference in his work ethics. In the beginning of the semester he was always playing with his blackberry and trying to get by doing as little as possible. Now he is working hard, getting great grades and his blackberry is no where to be seen. He told me "Food!" When I asked him to elaborate, he told me that during the summer he decided to stay out one night until 4AM. His mom didn't yell or scream or even say a word. He thought he got away with it. The next morning, he got up and found his brother and sister eating pancakes, bacon, eggs and all kind of goodies. When he asked "where is mine?", his mom pointed to the refigerator and left the room. She refused to make him dinner that night or for that matter feed him anything for the rest of the summer. Finally, his grandmother took pity on him and began to cook for him. He told me he never wanted to go through that again so he was going to take the easy way out and just do what was expected of him. The woman is a genius.

Dumb and Dumber

One of my more difficult students was playing with his Blackberry in class today. I asked him to turn it off and put it away. I don't have the energy to confiscate them. Besides, being in the trailer and so far from security I don't want to risk unnecessary confrontations. The kids, always at least pretend to turn them off and put them away, at least for a few minutes. Today, a kid refused to turn it off. I told him I was going to call security and get it confiscated if he didn't put it away on his own. He didn't seem to care. I had to leave my trailer (no phone, of course!) and go to next trailer to call for help. Naturally the switchboard operator won't answer the phone, she doesn't want any trouble. I had to call Principal's office. When I went back into my room, another student had his blackberry out. I told him security was on the way, he better put it away. He also refused to listen and kept on playing. I said, "You now lost your's too." A dean came in and took both kids out.

I don't know what is wrong with some of these kids. They knew the consequences and kept going anyways! Five minutes later, a girl took her blackberry out. She wasn't smart enough to keep it away but when I bellowed at her, she put it away quickly. It's only the beginning of December. I don't know how I will make it to the end like this?

You Can't Make This Stuff Up

Teacher told her class to copy the questions from the board and leave room for answers. More than one kid asked why they had to leave the room to get the answers!

Administrators

I've been teaching for over 30 years and have never met an administrator that I liked or respected. I am sure there are good ones out there, just none have ever crossed my path.

My first AP was I woman I will call RSquared. She is one of the meanest people I have ever met. Custodians put dead birds in her letter box and someone took chains and smashed the side of her car while it was parked in the lot. Everyone, even the nicest people, people who never said a bad word about anyone, felt she deserved this treatment. She was abusive to teachers she did not like, so abusive in fact, that the principal would go to other teachers in the math department, to get a feeling for the teacher in question, before he took any actions agreeing with her. She had teachers make up long question sheets, which she claimed were going to be used for coverage if anyone was absent. In reality, she printed these questions and sold the books. No one got author or monetary credit. I got along with her until I told her I was taking a child care leave when my daughter was born. She then gave me 5 classes in 5 different rooms, making sure I had to pass through the student cafeteria to get from room to room. When I grieved, she claimed she had nothing to do with rooms, The programmer showed me a schedule that had me in one room until RSquared changed it.

Now, comes the principal that worked with her. I thought he was a good guy until I needed him to sign my release papers to come to the school I am now in. He refused due to a power struggle he was having with her. Even though he knew his school was too far from my home, and I could no longer travel there (having two babies at home) he refused to help me out.

The next administrator I came in contact with was in the special education department. I liked teaching kids with limited abilities. I really thought I could make some difference in their lives. He didn't agree. He constantly harrassed me for things he let other teachers do. His final act towards me was letting me go to teach in the math department (my license) but not before he bad mouthed me so much that they really did not want me either but had no choice since I had tenure and building seniority.

Next comes BSquared, the math AP who had no choice but to take me. He was only a temporary chairman, but he was on a power trip. He gave me five of the worst classes in the building. When he realized that he was not going to be doing the job a second term, he gave himself (as AP) one of the worst classes. He figured the new person coming in would get stuck (which she was). If for some reason, she didn't come and he got to keep the job, he planned on changing programs. OK was the woman who took his place. Her philosophy was to give herself and her friends all the best classes. She dressed quite provocatively and the kids called her a hooker. Her make-up was always smeared and her slip was always showing. She used tears to get her own way when people disagreed with her. Her husband was always around. He used to sit at department meetings and give dirty looks to anyone who was not paying attention to her.

OK went on to greener pastures and we now have a chairman who I am embarrassed to admit I get along great with. This doesn't mean I don't see what he does to other teachers. We had two teaching fellows in the department a few years ago. They were really bad teachers. He didn't have to keep them. But he didn't have to be abusive either. He constantly yelled at them and belittled them in front of students. He is carrying on this behavior now. He deliberately gave one teacher a super late schedule, even though he knows she prefers to be on early. He begins every meeting threatening U-ratings and insulting certain teachers daily. Everyone knows who his little nasty memos are addressed to, even though no one is mentioned by name. One guy in my department has a mentor from the UFT. Because of this, our chairman is not allowed to go near him until Dec 1. The poor guy is living in fear and dreading this day. He is terrified of being alone with the chair. I don't care if this guy is bad (which I don't think he is). No one deserves to be treated like this.

Principal Suit has filled up many of these entries on his own, so there is no need to discuss him here.

Hopefully, before I retire, I will meet good administrator.

Kids

We are spending Thanksgiving with my daughter in her new house in Maryland. It's exciting. She is only 25 years old and has purchased a town house not too far from the Baltimore area. I see so many kids her age still searching for careers and I am so proud of how well she is doing.

Too bad her maturity ends here. She just had a huge fight with her 24 year old brother (also doing well, a computer engineer almost finished with his master's degree). They went at it the same way they did when they were four and five years old. She told him to get out of her house and he packed and was ready to leave when he realized he forgot his phone. I managed to block the door when he went to retrieve it and stood there where they screamed and yelled at each other and eventually made up. My two brilliant children made up by biting each other.

Kids--got to love them.

Phil

I'm an accidental teacher. I am the first college graduate from a family of barely high school graduates. With no role models, I followed the only profession where I knew college graduates, I became a teacher. I'm lucky. I found a career I love. I loved it from my first day. I really wanted to be a great teacher. I was always good at things, but never really, really good and definitely not great. I did not meet my own criteria and was depressed. Lucky for me I became good friends with Phil, who I assumed was an experienced teacher. He was so comfortable with the kids. He knew everything about the school and he helped me immensely. Aside from the teaching basics, he helped me realize that I didn't have to be perfect to be good at what I did. It was okay if a lesson bombed occassionally. It wasn't my fault if the kids didn't listen. He helped me to not be afraid, not of the kids, the administrators or anyone else. He taught me that I didn't not have to be great. just had to do my best and to care about the kids I taught. I owe my success in teaching to Phil. I found out, thirty years after I started teaching that Phil was a new teacher, too. He was teaching just one term longer than I was. Since today is Thanksgiving, I am publicly giving thanks to my wonderful friend and mentor. May all new teachers find a Phil to help them through.

We Have the Best Medical Coverage???????

I just called GHI to find out about the status of the procedure I am waiting approval on. They, of course, don't handle it and put me through to Care Core, the company that does handle it. Care Core callously tells me that my claim has been rejected. "So you are just going to wait for me to get sick and die?" is what I said to the claim representative. She then answered that my doctor is at fault. They requested additional information that my doctor never sent. I know my doctor well. This was not the truth, but I called my doctor to check anyways. The receptionist said "They lie! GHI is the worst. They reject these claims all the time. I'll resubmit on Monday, but I don't know what good it will do."

And the UFT suit that came to my school kept insisting that we have some of the best health coverage in the country.

Interclass Visitations

Today was interclass visitation. We got to go visit another teacher's class with our AP and a few other teachers. We got to see what they were doing right and hear about what we are doing wrong. I got to see an honor M&3 class. Of course the kids were all doing exactly the right thing. The teacher was terrific. Now, I am not putting down this teacher. Although she is fairly new, she is good at what she does, she is just not as perfect as my AP would like to make us believe. I looked in the window before we walked in the room. There were a few kids not paying attention. But, these are good kids, easily intimidated. When they saw the crowd walk in, they put on their best show, as did their teacher. We all tend to do things differently when we have an adult audience judging us.

After the five-minute visitation we went back to the office where we were supposed to discuss what we saw. The only one doing any discussing was my AP. He kept insisting that all kids can learn. If we expect them to do the correct thing they will do it. Any problems in the class are our faults. If kids are failing, we need to figure out how to get them to pass. He didn't want any excuses for disrespectful kids and for failures. I personally don't care what he says about me. I told him I had problems yesterday, when a kid decided he was going to leave early. My AP knows better than to mess with me, so he told me I handled it perfectly. I know he would not have made the same comment to other teachers.

This meeting offered the teachers with difficult classes no answers on how to handle the problems. The only purpose of this meeting was to make people feel inferior. One of my colleagues, a great teacher who has been teaching 25 years, looked like she was about to cry because she has one of those classes that is impossible, no matter what she does.

I know my AP is responsible for the department. He wants good results to make sure he keeps getting those big performance bonuses at the end of the year. He's not going to get them by constantly putting the teachers who work in his department down.

I Hope I Found A Way

I have a couple of good kids in my M&C class, that fail, no matter what they do. I experimented with them on Friday's test by letting them take the test earlier than the rest of the class, on a free period, when I, or someone else could sit with them and encourage them. Encouragement was given, help was not. Both kids passed the test. One got a 76 and the other a 65. Hopefully, I will be able to build their confidence this way and they will be able to start passing under the same conditions as everyone else. I know my chairman would have a fit if he knew I was doing this. I don't care. When you have one foot out the door on the way to retirement, there is nothing he can do to bother or hurt me. I just hope I can help the kids.

Helpless

I went to student's cafeteria today during my C-6 assignment to search out the kids in my M&C class who I thought might have lunch that period. They were going to take a test this afternoon and I wanted to give them some extra help. I could only get one of my students to come for the help. On the way to tutoring room, (yes, I now have a room to use!!! Complaining got me out of the library and into a vacant room) I asked him what was going on. He was such a hard worker in the beginning of the term and he was sinking fast now. He looked sad. he told me his mom needs an operation, her third. She has thyroid cancer and it is spreading. His grandmother was just diagnosed with breast cancer and his dad might be losing his job. His brother might be thrown out of school. The kid told me he works after school, in McDonald's and is worried about losing that job. He works to help support his family.

Principal Suit told us that if kids are not passing, we must find a way to help them. We should change whatever we are doing and get these kids to succeed. I can help this kid with math, but I can't cure the cancer in his family and I can't support them. I feel so bad for the kid, but there really is not a lot I can do to ease his home situation. I thought about referring him to guidance, but, what can they do besides talk to him?

Talking to Guidance

Teacher: Mr. Blue, I am coming to you because you are Joe's guidance counselor and he is exhibiting very strange behavior in my class.

Mr. Blue: Do you think your class his appropriate for him? What would you like me to do? He passed the two classes before this one. This is where he belongs.

Teacher: I am not coming to you because he is failing. Unfortunately, he is not the only one failing in the class. I am coming to you because his behavior is bizarre. He walks around the room. He tells me I am getting on his nerves. He tells me to get out of his face whenever I try to talk to him. He is late every day. I have not been able to get in touch with his parents. I would like you to look into the problem.

Mr. Blue: Other teachers have not complained.

Teacher: I have been experiencing this problem with him for quite a while. The way my day is programmed I have not had time to stop by. Please contact his teachers and see how he is doing.

Mr. Blue: My door is always open. Please stop by when you have time.

The conversation continues with Principal Suit.

Teacher: Excuse me, Principal Suit, I have a problem. I don't know what you can do about it, but I would like you to take this problem under consideration. Teachers need time during the day to dixcuss kids with counselors. With professional assignments and 5 classes there is no time for this.

Principal Suit: You have a lunch period. Use that!

Teacher: Principal Suit, I am entitled to lunch, just like you are.

Principal Suit: (getting irritated) Well, then use your professional period. Make sure to report there first so people will know where you are. And if you stop in the rest room, make sure you let someone know what you did in there.

Teacher: Principal Suit, I carry three bags plus my coat and my professional assignment is on the complete opposite side of the building. Even if I go there first, there is no where for me to leave my things so I must carry them with me. It is just too much.

Principal Suit: Oh go do what you want. I can't be bothered with this nonsense.

Let's see what tomorrow holds!

Truth is Stranger than Fiction

The school aid in charge of the telephone doesn't answer the phone--she doesn't want to deal with any incoming problems. This woman got a life time achievement award last month. The secretary who works for the AP of administration checks the caller ID and only answers the phone if she likes the person calling. The secretary in charge of student records will only print address labels for the teachers of the classes her son is in.

Standards

"I don't want a kid who can't pass Math A to be my doctor."

"This is a comment I hear more and more everyday from teachers who have some of the really low functioning kids in their classes. They don't want to pass them because they don't want them to go on to medical school??? Just how ridiculous is a statement like this??? Passing the Math A regents or any regents for that matter is not a sign of intellectual ability. It just shows that the kid has mastered what the state deems to be the minimum requirements for a high school diploma.

Many, many years ago, the state felt that too many kids were graduating without really knowing anything, so they instituted the RCT's to show competence in basic areas. When the kids couldn't pass these, they lowered the passing grades and let everyone through. The state then decided that these RCT's weren't good enough so they decided to make everyone pass a regents. When the kids started failing these, they again lowered the standards. So, a kid today getting a regents diploma might be no better off than a kid who graduated 30 years ago without this diploma.

Back to the subject--the kids we are passing today with just the barest knowledge of high school subjects are not the ones that will go on to medical schools. They are not going to be the ones competing for admission to Harvard and Yale. They are the kids that need that little piece of paper so that they can get the job sweeping floors at UPS or managing a fast food restaurant. As far as I am concerned, my standards can be as low as the states standards. I try to teach to the top. I drive the kids crazy all semester with high expectations. But, if they give an effort, I will pass all that pass the regents, no matter how little they actually know.